The Complete Poetry Guide and Workbook is on Sale Now!

I've been away from postings for the last week or so, although I have a good reason. A book that I spent two years researching and writing, plus a while more editing and polishing, is finally for sale. It's called The Complete Poetry Guide and Workbook.  You should be able to order a copy on Amazon, but I will get a larger share of the purchase cost if you buy it direct from Lulu.com on this page. The cost to you is the same either way. Let me tell you about it, though. Here's the cover:

Here is the Table of Contents for the first half of the book, including the page numbers:

Introduction 10

• Poetry in General 11
• What is Poetry? 11
• Poetry Came From Music 13
• A Working Definition of Poetry 14
• Barriers to Poetry 15

Poetic Devices 17

• Poetic Devices of Timing and Stress 19
• Lines 19
• Rhythm 25
• Metre 29
• Poetic Devices that Repeat Sounds 38
•  Alliteration 39
• Assonance 45
• Consonance 48
• Rhyme 51
• Repetition 59
• Onomatopoeia 61
•  Poetic Devices of Meaning 64
• Simile, Metaphor, and Personification 64
• Imagery 69
• Symbolism 73
• Allusion 81
• Poetic Forms 87
• Introduction 87
• Non-Metric Forms 88
• Prose Poetry 88
• Free verse 98
• Alliterative Verse 107
• Japanese Forms: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka 116
• Metric, Unrhymed Forms 131
• Cinquains 131
• Blank Verse 133
• Metric, Rhymed Forms 140
• Couplets and Heroic Couplets 140
• Tercets 143
• Quatrains 149
• Quintains, Especially Limericks 159
• Sonnets 161
• Typographic Forms 170
• Acrostics and Acronyms 170
• Calligrams and Concrete poetry 177
• Translation 184
• What is a Good Translation? 184
• Why Translate? 186
• How to Translate 187
• Sharing Your Work 194
• Glossaries 199
• Poetic Terminology 199
• Examples of Poetic Forms and Subjects 208

Each of the chapters is followed by exercises, graded into three levels of difficulty. The second half of the book is an anthology of 166 classic poems. They serve as examples of forms as well as inspiration for poets and just plain enjoyable reading for everyone else.

I really believe in this project. I hope you'll consider buying it and that you let me know what you think. The next challenge is to distribute it as an e-book.